Volume 5: Epilogue
Epilogue
I opened my eyes, to see a white curtain swaying by the window.
Each time, a dazzling light would pleasantly shine in, and gradually, my consciousness took shape.
And, she must have realized I had opened my eyes.
The baby-faced girl with the nostalgic red glasses smiled broadly.
“Are you conscious? Thank goodness.”
“…K…Krishna-san?”
“Everyone…everyone, thought you were taken along…!”
As soon as she spat out those words, that person embraced me.
It was Shiina Kurimoto-san, aka Krishna, a third-year student in Koumei university, the head of the Beatnik research club – the person I relied on the most here in Tokyo, who was much more famously known to the world as the organizer of the occult website, ‘Ikaigabuchi’. As I continued to feel the warmth of that small figure’s voluptuous breasts as she cried and sobbed in my chest, I desperately tried to think about when was now, where I was, and why I was in a place like this.
Umm, my name was – Nagito. Nagito Yamada, a university freshman, my hometown was Fujieda in Shizuoka prefecture – and as I recalled that far back in sequence, that scene came back to me.
That’s right, I was running to the library to meet her, when—
“…Ah…wait! Krishna-san!”
It wasn’t the time to be thankful for the two soft bulges leaning over my crotch. I grabbed Krishna-san’s slender shoulders and raised her up, and asked what she meant by her earlier words.
“What do you mean when you say that everyone…everyone, thought I was taken along?”
In response, Krishna-san’s large eyes behind her red glasses gradually welled up with tears.
“Akane Nanamori passed away.”
“….Eh?”
“But it wasn’t your fault. You protected her and she didn't die instantly. However, since birth, the vessels between her heart and lungs were underdeveloped – so her body couldn’t stand the operation. It couldn’t accept the heart-lung machine.”
--Akane Nanamori…died.
I closed my eyes, recalling that young girl’s prim manners, her slightly sad, downcast profile, and I recalled her bright, bursting smile. I recalled that she was carrying something that couldn’t be carried at such a tender age, and opened my eyes as I savored that heaviness – when for some reason, I realized that Sako Takita was present there.
“Yo.”
He was leaning against the well with a complacent smile on his face dressed as usual in his blue Kinagashi.
“…E, even you—why are you here?”
For some reason, seeing his face made the bitterness surge even more so than usual. A man who would betray you at the most crucial moment, a man you definitely couldn’t trust – that type of bitterness seethed and welled up inside me.
“Wow, it’s so nice that you’re safe. Don’t go acting too reckless now, eh?”
“Shut up. And haven’t you— gotten older?”
“Older? How rude. I’ve still called Saint-Germain of the Far East."[1]
After cracking a joke – he turned his eyes to Krishna-san who was bending over shakily.
“Kurimoto-kun. For the time being, I believe it would be better to tell him everything that happened.”
In response to Sako’s words, the petite occult site manager took off her glasses and wiped her tears with a handkerchief.
A terrible air filled the room once more, even as the news of Akane Nanamori’s death still lingered.
“Nagi-kun, I want you to stay calm when you listen to this.”
“…Alright.”
“Karasu-san passed away.”
…Eh?
“It seemed she was hit by a motorbike in front of the station right around the time your accident happened.”
“….”
Eh…no… wait a minute. What was she talking about? I couldn't understand it. Because, it felt like I was together with Karasu-san till just now. I even felt like I'd had the smell of her hair on the tip of my nose all this time. I had a long, long dream—and, it felt like she was there the whole time…
“It has something to do with the origin of Karasu-san’s name. She told me once before. She told me that she was actually long dead. That she was just running away from death under the name of ‘Karasu’. That’s why, she told me not to be surprised or sad if she were to suddenly die one day. But—”
Thereupon, Krishna-san was unable to bear it as her voice cracked.
“…I mean… that’s impossible…”
In the hospital room that was dead silent, only Krishna-san’s sobbing echoed.
After crying for a while—she wiped her tears, and after putting her glasses back on, she spoke.
“As of today – I’m closing ‘Ikaigabuchi’.”
“…I can’t do it anymore. It was always a site dealing with things that were too dangerous. It has nothing to do with Karasu-san’s death, I thought that it was about time.”
“Wa, wait a second. Are you not going to update it anymore? Weren’t you updating the ominous history – the misfortunes, the hopeless events into something a little happier? Weren’t you promoting the segregation of humans and ghosts?”
“Sorry—I, can’t…do it anymore.”
Once again, I was left alone in front of Krishna-san, whose eyes welled up in tears.
Suddenly, the door of the hospital room opened with a clank.
I looked back as if drawn to it—
There was a young girl, her black hair reaching down to her waist, with a beautiful face like that of a bisque doll.
Looking somewhat out of place, she held a flower in her hand and untied her knotted lips.
“…Get well…”
Saying that, she drew close to me.
“…soon.”
She then bluntly held out the flowers.
However, I didn’t see her being out of character holding out that flower.
I was on the verge of her calling something cursed that came from her translucent white beauty, and the moment I felt something lurking in the depths of her large eyes that gazed at me—Goosebumps ran all over my body like I had never felt before.
“—G, get out!!”
Confused, I screamed.
And, ugh—I ended up uttering those words spontaneously.
Get away, you monster.
Translator's notes and references
| Back to Case 00: Chapter 5 | Return to Main Page | Forward to Raven Notes: Part Two |
